Primary 2020: The Exchange Candidate Forums from NHPR

New Hampshire Public Radio, in collaboration with New Hampshire PBS, will hold a series of forums with presidential primary candidates to explore in-depth the issues that impact New Hampshire voters. Forums will be open to the public, broadcast on NHPR live, and then broadcast on NHPBS.

The series kicks off on Tuesday, October 8, with Republican candidate Bill Weld. Mr. Weld served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. He declared his candidacy for the presidency on April 15 of this year, challenging President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

Primary 2020: The Exchange Candidate Forums from NHPR will be broadcast live from NHPR’s Studio D in Concord. Laura Knoy, host of The Exchange, will be joined by various co-hosts from NHPR’s news team for each of the forums. State of Democracy Reporter Lauren Chooljian will co-moderate the first forum with Gov. Weld.

For the Weld forum and for future forums, conversations with the candidates will likely touch on the economy, healthcare, education, climate change, public safety and foreign policy. Listeners are encouraged to submit their questions for the candidates in advance; public questions will help guide the interview and may be read by Laura Knoy on-air. Submit questions in advance online here.

“The forums provide the chance for voters to learn more from each candidate about their vision for the country, their positions on issues voters care about, and their ideas and experience,” said Mark Kaplan, Interim Executive Director at NHPR. “Providing access to information and ideas is public media’s mission and its strength. We’re delighted that through this collaboration with our NHPBS colleagues, we can expand the reach of these forums to allow more Granite State viewers and listeners to see and hear from the candidates.”

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with New Hampshire Public Radio on these candidate forums," says NHPBS President and CEO Peter Frid. "Our viewers will have an opportunity to learn about the candidates through these in-depth conversations that only public media can provide.”

Primary 2020: The Exchange Candidate Forums are part of a broader portfolio of NHPR reporting around New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. Other tools and reporting projects related to primary coverage and accessible online include:

• Stranglehold podcast – a new podcast from NHPR taking a deep dive into the New Hampshire primary – past and present.
• Primary Candidate Tracker – a calendar tracking where and when candidates will appear in New Hampshire.
• 2020 Candidate Conversations – long-form interviews with the candidates as featured on NHPR’s weekday talk show, The Exchange.
• 2020 Two-Ways – a series of interviews with the candidates featured on NHPR’s Morning Edition.
• Candidate Interviews on the NPR Politics Podcast – Conversations with the national candidates, produced in collaboration with NPR and Iowa Public Radio.

FORUM REGISTRATION:

GENERAL PUBLIC: All forums are free, but registration is required and seating is limited. Please register online at: www.nhpr.org/events. [NOTE: Look for the specific event name before registering]

MEDIA: All forums are open to the media. A media room is available onsite at NHPR with a livestream of the broadcast. If you’re a member of the media planning to attend the forum, please register at: communications@nhpr.org

EVENT DETAILS:

PRIMARY 2020: The Exchange Candidate Forum with Bill Weld

MODERATORS: Laura Knoy and Lauren Chooljian

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS: Listeners with questions for Governor Weld are encouraged to submit their questions in advance online. [NOTE: These questions will help guide the interview and may be read by Laura Knoy on air]

DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 2019

LOCATION:  Studio D

New Hampshire Public Radio
2 Pillsbury Street, 6th Floor
Concord, NH  03301

TIME:
8 a.m. - Doors open.
8:40 a.m. – Audience is seated (Studio D)
9 to 10 a.m. – The Exchange program live from Studio D.

[PROGRAMMING NOTES:  This forum will be streamed on Facebook Live. The program will also be rebroadcast on NHPR, on Tuesday, October 8 from 7 to 8 p.m. It will also be broadcast at a later date on NHPBS. Go to nhpbs.org/schedule to learn more]

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About NHPR

Since 1981, New Hampshire Public Radio has shaped the media landscape in the Granite State and beyond. Our mission is “Expanding minds, sparking connections, building stronger communities.” NHPR is broadcast from 14 different sites, making it by far New Hampshire’s largest (and only) statewide radio news service. Every week, NHPR is the choice of more than 161,000 listeners as a primary source of in-depth and intelligent news coverage, with thousands more viewing NHPR.org, following our social media sites or listening to our podcasts. Each day, New Hampshire Public Radio delivers several hours of local news reported by its award-winning news team. Locally produced programs and podcasts include The Exchange, The Folk Show, Outside/In, Bear Brook, and Civics 101, among others. NHPR is the exclusive outlet for NPR News in the Granite State and broadcasts national weekly programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, and This American Life. www.nhpr.org

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339